1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to sewage discharge devices for recreational vehicles and, more particularly, to devices for extending the discharge device from the recreational vehicle holding tanks to a dump station site via a sewage hose or other conduit. Specifically, the present invention relates to a telescoping drain assembly extender mounted to the recreational vehicle to ease the attachment of a sewage hose or other conduit thereto.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many types of vehicles, such as recreational vehicles, travel trailers, fifth wheelers, buses, trucks and the like have self-contained washing facilities and/or bathrooms. For ease of style these vehicles will be herein collectively referred to as "recreational vehicles" or "RVs". Such RVs include systems which store sewage/waste water until those materials can be properly disposed of. All of these types of RV,s generally utilize the same means of conducting waste to external storage tanks, dumps, or processing systems, such as those which are used in RV parks, truck/bus stops and the like. Conventional RV vehicles generally have two holding tanks, a sewage tank for receiving fluid sewage from the toilet system, and a gray water tank for receiving waste water, such as from the kitchen, bathroom sinks and shower. These two holding tanks each have a which interconnect to form a single liquid conduit drain line or drain pipe. RVs generally have an easily accessible external cabinet or storage facility which stores a length of flexible sewage discharge hose or other conduit. This discharge hose or other conduit may be manually connected to a fitting on the outlet stub of the drain pipe. The other end of the hose or other conduit is then extended to a dump fitting. Similarly, when the RV is preparing to move on, it is also necessary to handle the hose or other conduit and flush the waste from it before storing it. These processes, i.e., dumping the waste from the holding tank into the inlet receptacle of the RV dump station and disconnecting and storing the hose or other conduit, are the messiest and most dreaded aspects of using an RV. The state-of-the-art system is, at best, somewhat clumsy.
Besides the mess, the predominate problem with the traditional sewage hose or other conduit systems, in that the RV user must get on his or her knees and reach beneath the RV to attach the sewage hose or other conduit to the outlet pipe of the conduit beneath the RV. Consequently, there have been numerous devices which have been developed to increase the ease and/or reduce the clumsiness of attaching and detaching RV sewage hoses or other conduits. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,133,347; 4,223,702; 4,845,349 and 5,023,959 all disclose systems whereby the flexible discharge hoses are stored in a conduit extension member beneath the RV, and are telescopically moved therefrom when it is desired to secure the hose to a dump site. While these systems have their merits, these devices are stored permanently beneath the RV, and they still generally require the RV user to get on his or her knees to reach beneath the RV to access the sewage hose.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,915,081; 3,496,959 and 4,779,650 all disclose telescopic drain pipes that are intended for permanent mounting beneath the RV and for a lengthy extension, i.e. many feet, from the RV directly to the dump site. While this certainly eliminates the need for securing a separate sewage hose or other conduit to the outlet pipe, such long fixed telescopic devices must be stowed beneath the RV. Thus, a user must still reach beneath the RV to access these devices. Moreover, such an excessive length of drain pipes positioned beneath an RV lends itself to potential damage during movement of the RV over the road, from bumps, dips, rocks and the like.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,623,500; 4,650,224; 4,844,121 and 5,323,813 all disclose devices which are solid members stored separately within an RV and are for use in conjunction with a flexible RV hose or other conduit. These devices are intended to help support the hose or other conduit in its extension from the RV to the dump site in a variety of manners. Moreover, these devices must be separately stored like the RV sewage hose or other conduit. In addition, the user of such devices must nonetheless get on his or her knees to reach beneath the RV to secure the flexible sewage hose or other conduit.
Finally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,554,949 and 5,141,017 disclose devices that are designed to assist in securing and/or cleaning flexible sewage hoses for RVs.
In all of the above described systems for emptying the liquid storage tanks of an RV, an RV user must still generally get on his or her knees and reach beneath an RV in order to access the RV sewage system. This process can be very cumbersome, difficult and uncomfortable at times, particularly if one is attempting to set up an RV in the dark or during inclement weather. It would be much easier to be able to access the conduit outlet from the holding tanks if such outlet were located exterior to the RV. However, this cannot be done inasmuch as such members would project beyond the side of the RV and pose a significant hazard to other vehicles and fixed objects during travel. Thus, there is still a need for a device which will eliminate the need for an RV and user to have to get on his or her knees and reach beneath an RV in order to access and hook up a sewage discharge hose or other conduit.